"At the same time, […] we all have to recognize that some people are well-suited for that role and others aren't. […] [S]ome of them are 19 and 20 years old and are no more than recent kids themselves" (Donald Fehr, head of the baseball player’s union). When examining the negative side athlete role models have on children, the first obvious issue is aggressive behavior and violence. When a grown man in the NFL is yelling at the referee and gets away without a penalty, the chances that a boy playing in one of the youth leagues will copy this behavior are immense. A more drastic example is the one of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez who was indicted for murder in June of this year. Television and internet reported on a daily basis about his case, the internet still does as of today. Parents were encouraged by the Patriots organization to get rid of fan jerseys since they don’t want to portray the former player as a great role model and someone to look up to anymore. "According to Alina Tugend, writer for the New York Times, "The more exceptional performers are, the less we may learn from them," said Chengwei Liu, an assistant professor of strategy and behavioral science at the University of Warwick in Britain." This statement is also true for the abuse of drugs and steroids by professional athletes today. On the one hand they pledge not to take anything, but on the other many of them do anyways to become or stay the champion. Famous examples of these cases are sprinter Marion Jones, road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, and baseball player Barry Bonds. "Kids pick role models because they win," wrote Soven Bery. When children see what their role models are doing, are they supposed to do the same in order to win?
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